Process of cleaning and separating vegetables for canning



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GIRGLEVILLE, OHIO.

c PROCESS OF CLEANING AND SEPTING VEGETABLES FOR OANNINQ,

Application filed May 13, 1924. Serial Ito. 713,014.

This invention relates to process of thoroughly and expeditiouslyremoving foreign matter, hulls and the like from vegecapacity forhandling food articles 0 the character described preparatory to packingor canning in such a way as to effectually remove dirt, hulls, shells,damaged specimens, adulterations, or inferior ingredients, therebyinsuring that only a uniformly perfect and wholesome stock is deliveredto the cans, jars, Or other containers.

Heretofore, it has been the practice to effeet the cleaning of peasand'beans by hand labor, and not only is that practice expensive andtedious but because of the deceptive character of some of the foreignmatter carried along with the food articles, detection is diflicult.Furthermore, hand separation is likely to involve a mashing or crushingof the product.

Accordingly, the invention has in view a process that will reduce manuallabor to a minimum and mechanically clean and separate small hullparticles and split or broken meats from the whole meats by properagitation and washin thereby simultaneously dissolving lumps o dirt andseparating the imperfect meats and undesirable foreign matter.

A further object of the invention is to prowhich may e economically madeand easily maintained in operative condition.

With the above and other objects in view which will more readily appearas the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consistsin the novel construction, combination and arrangement of partshereinafter more fully described, illustrated and claimed.

A preferred and'practical embodiment of the invention is shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of theimproved apparatus,

Figure 2 is a top plan view thereof.

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 33 of Figure'2.

' move in approximatel vide a 'sim le and substantial constructionFigure 4 is a vertical sectional view on the line 4-4 of Figure l.

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughoutthe several figures of the'drawings. i

The present invention is, as heretofore indicated, of special utility inthe process of handling of peas and beans in the bulk after they havebeen shelled by the usual threshing outfit andv after they have beengraded and blanched or partly cooked Heretofore this step hasbeencustomarily performed by hand labor after the peas or beans havebeen taken laid out on a table or traveling conveyor, and,

of course, the efi'ectiveness of the cleaning operation depends entirelyupon the accuracy, adeptness and experience of the persons employed forthat work. Obviously,

that practice is not only unreliable but is slowand wasteful, because,as has been demonstrated, a machine or apparatus 9f the presenttype,working at normal capacity will reone-half hour about one bushel ofhulls, irt and other foreign substances and ordinarily it would requirethe labor of one hundred people working for the same period to accomlish that end;

Therefore, the present mac ine is particularly designed with a view toefiecting a considerable economy in labor and time and also providing astandardized high grade output.

Referring more particularly to the drawings which illustrate a practicalembodiment of the invention it will be observed that the same comprisesin its organization a suitable main frame A; including the verticalstruts or supports 18 for carrying the super-strum "tare or top rail G,and a feed hopper D having a manually controlled gate E for regulatingand controlling the supply of matetoward the discharge end G.

On the top Q of the frame there is provided a washing system designatedgenerally 'as H, the same preferably consisting of a not i supply pipe Hhaving a suitable controlvalve H which supplies a manifold pipe H whichcarries a plurality of transversely disposed spray ipes H arranged overand above the com ined cleaning and separating unit F. The said spraypipes H are provided with jet openings which project a deluging spray ofwash-water downwardly over the articles passing through the combinedcleaning and separating unit F, and due to the fact that the said pipesare mounted on the horizontal top rail C while the body of the unit Finclines downwardly, the washing spray from the pipes H strikes thearticles on the foraminous partition of theunit F with graduallydiminishing force as they approach the discharge end of the unit,thereby preventing the mashing or bruising of peas or beans softened bycontact with the wash water from the preliminary spraying P p vReferring now more particularly to the construction and manner ofmounting the said unit F it will be observed that the same is preferablyof elongated box-like formation and comprises the opposite side members1--1 having a troughed bottom 2 and the closed end walls 3 and 4respectively located at the upper. and lower ends of the unit. Withinand between the walls 11 there is provided a suitable foraminouspartition or screen 5- which may be carried in an suitable andconvenient manner, as by the frame 6, and mounted about mid-way of thewalls 1-1 to thereby divide the interior of the box-like unit into anupper food handling compart- 'inent F and a lower waste compartment FThe screen 5 which is preferably of about #6 mesh extends from side toside and from the bottom end of the unit F to a point short of thedelivery zone from the feed hopper D. At the oint directly beneath thedischarge end of t e hopper D an imperforate plate is provided so thatthere is no danger of the peas and beans issuing from the feed hop perbeing forced through the screen due to the impact of their fall from thefeed hopper onto the screen. It will therefore be apparent thattheupper-end of the separating partition or member 5 is formed by animperforate plate located beneath the hopper.

The lower end of the combined washing and separating unit F is providedwith a delivery spout 7 which receives all of the material from thedischarge end of the screen 5, and the lower extremity of the wastecompartment F is provided with a discharge connection 8 which leads towaste.

For the purpose of suspending the unit F in the frame, the upper andhigher end thereof is preferably supported upon the upright spring arms9, which are secured as at 10 to the'cross-bar 11 of the frame and havea rela tively enlarged or upper head portion 12 for fitting into asuitable socket 13 of the boterably in the form of a lever 18 which iscon nected as at 19 with the bottom 2 of the unit and is given areciprocating motion by the cam or eccentric 19 mounted upon a driveshaft 20 which may carry a pulley or equivalent member 21 for connectingwith a suitable source of power, such for'example, as a motor or en ineof any well known type.

From the oregoing it will be apparent that after the hulled peas orbeans are placed in the feed hopper D their passage into thecleaning andseparating unit may be regulated at will by the operator by manipulatingthe feed gate E. After the delivery of the peas and beans onto thereceiving plate 6 the vibratory motion of the unit will serve to assistthe shifting or movement thereof onto the screen 5 over which thewashing spray from the pipes H is directed. As the unit vibrates ormoves the length of the screen 5, and being subject I to the cleansingaction of sprays issuing from the battery of washing pipes,a thoroughlycleaned and uniformly whole product is delivered through the dischargespout 7.

Without, further description it is thought that the features andadvantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled inthe art, and it will of course be understood that changes in the form,proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention and scope of the appendedclaims.

1. A process for cleaning and separating peas or beans and the likewhich consists in simultaneously subjecting the same to agitationbeneath a plurality of washing jets, the first of which level the massand sweep away the hulls and superfluous material, and subsequentlysubjecting the separated product to the washing action of the remainingweaker nets. I

J 2. A process for cleaning and separating series of washing jets ofprogressively diminishing force, the first of which level the whichlevels the mass and sweeps away the hulls and superfluous material andthen subjecting the separated product to the washing action of weakerjets.

In testimony whereof we hereunto aflix our signatures.

- LOUIS C. GEHRING. JAMES F. DENN.

